This sugar free spice cake is incredibly moist with a soft and fluffy texture. It is a quick and easy sugar free cake to make with no mixer required. You will love this sweet little snack cake with its warming spices and light maple drizzle.
Why this recipe is just so good....
- This spice cake is a quick and simple healthy recipe to make. It does not require a mixer and can be baked in different sized cake pan.
- The warm combination of spices and brown sugar substitute creates a lightly sweetened cake that does not need a heavy frosting on top. A drizzle of sugar free maple glaze is the perfect finish.
- It is easily cut into small or larger squares for portion control. Even though I love the fact it is a low carb, keto friendly dessert, I still want to watch how many calories I consume. The cake can also be frozen for up to 3 months and just defrost a slice when you want one.
Ingredient Notes
- This cake uses a lovely combination of warm spices such as cinnamon and ginger. You can substitute some others such as cardamon which is described as having a "piney, fruity, almost menthol" taste and is very popular in spice cakes. Or add a bit of cloves. Pumpkin pie spice mix has very similar spices. Apple pie spice mix also has cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger but does not have cloves. My Orange Glazed Pumpkin Muffins are moist and delicious and use many of these spices as well.
Baking Tips
- Sift your flours. Gluten free flours are usually stored in the refrigerator or freezer and get lumpy. Without sifting, your measurements will be off and may affect the texture of the cake.
- Sugar substitutes will vary quite a bit in flavor and strength. I always taste just a tiny bit of batter before I pour into a pan. Sometimes it needs just an extra teaspoon or tablespoon of additional sweetener for the perfect flavor.
Step by Step Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs and sugars. Stir in the melted butter, vanilla and sour cream until combined.
- Stir together the sifted flours, spices, salt and xanthan gum.
- Pour the butter/egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine together.
- Pour batter into parchment lined baking pan that was sprayed with baking spray.
- Gently tap on counter to remove any air bubbles and smooth top with a spatula.
- Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, it is done, if it has a few wet crumbles, bake for another 5-10 minutes and test again.
- Cool pan on rack for 15 minutes and then turn out onto the rack until fully cooled. Remove parchment.
- Stir together the syrup, cream and powdered sugar substitute until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cake and cut into 12-16 pieces.
FAQ
According to Better Homes & Gardens, whole spices will stay fresh for up to 2 years. Ground spices will last for about 6 months. Yikes, time to clean out and replace some!! Something I did not know was to keep red colored spices in the refrigerator to maintain their color and flavor.
I have always stored my spices in glass containers since plastic can be porous and lessen the flavor of the spices. Metal can be used for all except salt blends since metal can corrode the container.
Yes, you can use a 9"x5" loaf pan to cook the spice cake. It may take 5-10 minutes longer to bake. I would suggest testing with a skewer instead of a toothpick since it is a taller cake and you want to make sure it is baked all the way through.
You can also use a 9" round cake pan. It will probably take the same amount as the 8x8, but test accordingly.
If you try this Sugar Free Spice Cake, please come back and give it a 5 star rating. This tells me what you enjoy and would like to see more of. Thank you!
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Sugar Free Spice Cake with Maple Glaze
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This soft and moist sugar free spice cake is perfect for an afternoon snack or light dessert. The warm flavors of the combined spices lightly sweeten the cake so that a heavy frosting is not needed. A light drizzle of maple glaze is a delicious, complimentary topping.
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup brown sugar substitute *
- ¼ cup granulated sugar substitute*
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups fine almond flour, sifted
- ¼ cup coconut flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum*
Maple Drizzle
- 2 tablespoon sugar free maple syrup*
- 1 cup powdered sugar substitute
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly spray an 8" x 8" baking pan with non stick baking spray. Line it with parchment for easy cake removal.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and eggs to combine.
- Add in the sour cream, butter and vanilla. Stir well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, spices, salt and xanthan gum.
- Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until smooth and well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and tap pan gently on counter to remove any air bubbles. Smooth the top of cake with a knife or metal spatula.
- Bake cake for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted in center of cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. If there are some wet looking crumbs, continue to bake cake for another 5-10 minutes until done.
- Cool cake on rack for about 15 minutes. Use the parchment to carefully remove cake from pan to cooling rack. Let cake completely cool before icing.
- Stir together the powdered sugar, syrup, cream and vanilla. Lift up a spoonful and test the thickness of the drizzle. Add another teaspoon or two of cream if you'd like it thinner.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and let the glaze set before serving.
Notes
*Always sift your flours to avoid discrepancies in measurement.
*I used Swerve brown sugar substitute and Allulose granulated. I find Allulose creates a softer cake.
*Lakanto syrup is made with Monkfruit and doesn't have a very strong aftertaste like some other sugar free syrups.
*You can substitute glucomannan for the xanthan gum. Both ingredients serve as binders in gluten, grain free baking. You only need a little; in this case more is not better.
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